Crickets chirp the mantra of the solstice. A light breeze tickles the ears; the stars twinkle above.
And 7,000 painted faces stand up to scream for British blood as they watch the climactic battle scene of “Braveheart.”
Summer movies under the big sky have become a hit at Red Rocks and other public venues. But watching movies alfresco is also becoming a regular part of home entertainment for many families and friends as DVDs and projectors get cheaper and backyard parties grow more elaborate.
It can be the simplest of pleasures – no need to hire the big party planners. With that widescreen TV in your living room, you could even sit on the back porch and watch “Jaws” or “The Italian Job” through the screen door.
If you insist on making a big show and inviting the neighborhood, and a 16mm film projected on a bedsheet isn’t your style, your medium of choice might be inflatable. This is America, after all, and any structure imaginable can be erected with an air compressor.
Rental companies will now bring a 20-foot-wide screen and super-bright DVD projector to your yard for $500 to $1,000. Licensing a movie for a group showing usually adds $150 to $250 to that total. But then, the sodas and beer are a lot cheaper from your own fridge.
“It’s even more personal than a drive-in movie,” said Stewart Farmer, owner of Open Air Cinema in Utah. “Everyone is laughing and sitting together. It turns personal entertainment equipment into a community-oriented thing.”
Denver Film Society programmers who choose the Film on the Rocks summer series agree that people want to watch a familiar flick with a flock of friends.
“People love to see classic movies on that big screen, even if they’ve seen it a hundred times,” said society project manager Lindsay Mangat. “Comedies are so much fun when there are 4,000 people laughing with you.”
Red Rocks averages about 3,500 people for a handful of shows on nights no concerts are scheduled. The beloved amphitheater sold out 7,000 seats for crazy “Braveheart” fans two years in a row. (This year’s lineup goes public June 3, but Mangat promises “Unforgiven” and “The Goonies” will be on the list.)
To jump-start your summer plans, here are a few terrific summer titles for group showings, culled from our own favorites and recommendations by outdoor programmers:
“Romancing the Stone” is an adventurous blend of comedy, romance and jungle-swinging action starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner at the prime of their marquee power. It’s a PG-rated mix with something for everyone, and may intrigue audiences more familiar with “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
Never dismiss “The Black Stallion” as a children’s story. The mesmerizing 1979 version combines haunting tragedy, an island idyll and a rousing comeback to civilized horse racing. But mainly it features a remarkable relationship between a boy and his horse, avoiding shmaltz through gorgeous cinematography and restrained writing.
Not all movie nights are for children. Put the kids to bed, rent “Do the Right Thing,” and buy extra drinks. It’s not just the claustrophobic Brooklyn summer that will make you sweat – Spike Lee confronts us with racism, stereotypes, ethnic anger and the hazards of tightknit, big-city living. Take on a movie that will have your guests lingering for hours afterward to vent their feelings.
Horse stories make for great group movies, because they promise action and affection. “Hidalgo” offers sweeping sand dunes, cutthroat racing and larger-than-life characters, including the tremendous Omar Sharif.
Kids have been begging their parents to buy the DVD of “National Treasure,” since they loved it so much the first time. And many parents enjoyed it for the truncated history lessons and frenetic location shooting, swept along by Jerry Bruckheimer’s usual critic-proof sense of explosive pacing.
What’s summer without a summer-camp movie? “Meatballs” retired the genre for good, since no one could match Bill Murray’s irreverently kindhearted chief counselor Tripper. Chris Makepeace plays the gawky kid who must save the underdog camp’s bacon with a winning cross-country run.
For a quieter, patient crowd, dig up Alfred Hitchcock’s summer-heat classic “Rear Window.” The tension builds to unbearable levels as Jimmy Stewart, playing a photographer temporarily out of commission with a broken leg, tries to ferret out the secrets of his city apartment complex by watching from his living room. And is there a more luminous face than 1950s-era Grace Kelly?
Summer requires at least one baseball movie, and a great flick for family gatherings is “The Rookie.” Dennis Quaid displays endless charm in the real-life story of a Texas schoolteacher given a late shot at playing major-league baseball. The shot of him changing a diaper during tryouts is worth the whole movie.
Telling a tragic World War II tale and clocking in at 170 minutes, “The Great Escape” might be heavy fare for movie night. But it’s packed with rich detail, alluring character and well-crafted tension, and you can tell the teenagers it really happened. Steve McQueen’s frantic motorcycle ride is one of the most desperate dashes ever captured on film.
There’s a good reason “Jurassic Park” returns to network television every Thanksgiving weekend: Families love to sit and watch it together, the littlest ones ducking for cover under an aunt’s protective arm, the older ones roaring with delight at the sight of a reconstituted T-rex chasing modern humans. With just enough science to make it seem rich, “Jurassic Park” is sweet and scary every minute.
Staff writer Michael Booth can be reached at 303-820-1686 or mbooth@denverpost.com.
